Niagara-on-the-Lake holds a special place in Kristen and Enzo’s hearts, so the decision to celebrate their wedding day at Ravine Vineyard was an easy one. From taking styling inspiration from the natural beauty of the vineyard itself, to incorporating their shared favourite colour into the decor, and being wed by their officiant friend, Kristen and Enzo’s romantic wedding day was filled with personal touches.

Photographer: Philosophy Studios | Venue: Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery

How long had you and your partner been together prior to your wedding? We've been together since November 2018. We dated long distance, from Toronto to Atlanta, and then from Toronto to Chicago, before Kristen moved to Chicago after 3 and a half years.

How did you feel the morning of your wedding? Excited! Relaxed! There was a lot of anticipation. You go into planning a wedding, and you want to be as present as possible on the day-of so you can soak in the moments with your loved ones. We weren't worried about anything going wrong, because we had an amazing wedding planner take care of everything on the day-of. It was quite literally the most relaxing morning. Snacks, champagne, and hair and makeup chit chats made the morning fly by.

What drew you to your venue? The Niagara-on-the-lake area holds a very special place in our hearts. Not only are we both wine lovers, but we've spent a lot of time in the region as a couple throughout our relationship, exploring the different wineries, learning about how the climate is great for winemaking, and sharing the area with our friends and families. We took our first ever photo together as a couple at Ravine Vineyard back in 2018. We love their wine and hospitality. After seeing the event space nestled within the vineyard, we knew it was the perfect venue.

After choosing your wedding venue, did it impact the direction you took for styling and decor? The venue helped us make decisions on what we wanted. There was no need to decide on chairs, tables, napkins, or serving ware, since a standard set-up was included by Ravine, and we liked it because of its simplicity! We wanted to keep it simple and elegant, with lots of greenery and white flowers to accent the beauty of the vineyard, and not overshadow it. The vineyard backdrop was our main styling inspiration, and we accented it with simple, elegant, and clean florals and decor.

What inspired your colour scheme? Our colour scheme was inspired by a favourite colour that we both share - blue. We knew we wanted that to be our pop of colour. We thought it would stand out against the green of the vineyard, but not overshadow it. Greens, whites, and golds accented the venue decor. Everything was kept very natural and elegant, and it looked incredible in the vineyard setting.

How difficult was it to decide on your colour scheme? We chose a colour we both liked, and could build off of. We knew it would stand out in the location, but not take away from the beauty of the vineyard. Choosing the shade of blue was more difficult, but we landed on a mid-tone twilight blue that looked incredible in all of the photos. We thought about how it would look in different lights (direct sun, cloud, etc) and ultimately, we were so happy with our choice.

Were your florals exactly how you imagined them? Our florals were gorgeous! As a couple who didn't prioritize florals initially, we were incredibly grateful for how they turned out. Our florist did an incredible job putting them together, and we felt it was the perfect amount of florals for the space. They accented the beauty of the event space and the vineyard.

Did you incorporate any personal accents into your day? If so, what and why? It was important to us to write our own vows, so we did personal vows and traditional vows in the ceremony. The vow books we put our personal vows in are now keepsakes for the rest of our lives. We also had our officiant, who is a good friend, give a very personalized homily that talked about the similarities of winemaking and relationships. It was a beautiful touch in our ceremony, and very fitting for the venue of course!

How did you include those who couldn’t be with you on your special day? We mentioned them in a prayer given by Enzo's godparents.

Did the day go according plan? The day had its small hiccups, but we weren't aware of any of them. Our planner ensured that everything was taken care of and we could fully enjoy! Every single vendor and server was kind and helpful. It was, without a doubt, the best day of our lives. We couldn't have had a better time, and we wish we could relive the weekend over and over.

Did you hire a wedding planner? Enzo's cousin was our wedding planner. She acted as our planner and our wedding consultant, helping us plan for the small details that we would have undoubtedly missed if it weren't for her.

Would you have done anything differently planning-wise? We worked back from the wedding date to determine what needed to be prioritized. We got ahead of those timelines as much as we could. We dedicated a few hours per week to planning to ensure timeline and details weren't forgotten as we moved through the process. Inevitably, the two weeks before the wedding are busy, but because we planned ahead, we knew what to anticipate and could prepare accordingly! We had multiple spreadsheets to record to do's, costs, payments, vendor information, RSVP's, meal selections, and all of the other details for the big day which was incredibly helpful!

Did you take on any project(s) of your own that you wish you had hired a professional for?
(ie. making your own cake, florals, invitations, etc) We brought in some additional vases/glassware for votive candles to place along the center of the tables, and printed our own signs (including table numbers, bar signs, and place cards). The venue took care of printing menus for us. We also created a slideshow of photos from all of our travels that played on the large screen throughout dinner. We created place card holders out of wine corks that we had collected, which was fun because all of our guests got a different wine cork.

What advice would you give to a couple who are in the process of planning their wedding?

Do everything you can ahead of time to enjoy the big day. You spend so much time planning this big celebration, that it's important to enjoy it! Ensure you get a planner who you trust to take care of those day-of issues. The less critical thinking you need to do on your wedding day, the more fun it is!